Warren Announces Progressive Congresswomen As Campaign Co-Chairs

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) added three progressive congresswomen to her roster of co-chairs for her presidential campaign on Friday: Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.).

All three women were elected in 2018 as part of a historic wave of women, and specifically women of color, who ran for Congress and won seats. Haaland became one of the first Native women in U.S. Congress and Pressley the first black woman sent to Congress from her state.

In their new roles, they will be campaigning for Warren in various cities across the country, engaging with voters alongside her and on her behalf. 

In her Friday announcement, Warren called the congresswomen “relentless advocates for working families” and said it was an “incredible honor” to have them on her team.

“Elizabeth and I both come from humble beginnings. We both were single moms, and we understand what it means to live paycheck-to-paycheck, struggling to make ends meet,” said Rep. Haaland in a statement, calling Warren a “champion for Indian country.” 

Warren has previously spurred controversy around her claims of Native American ancestry, including releasing a DNA test last fall in an attempt to prove it. Warren has since apologized for the harm she’d caused and proposed a sweeping plan for empowering tribal nations.

Pressley on Friday applauded Warren’s vision to combat income inequality and close the racial wealth gap, as well as work “to dismantle structural racism.” 

Earlier this month, the congresswoman endorsed Warren, who is her state’s senator, breaking with other members of the “Squad” of freshman congresswomen who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).  

On Thursday, Pressley spoke up at a rally for Warren at Clark Atlanta University, a historically Black university, when school choice activists disrupted the candidate’s speech in protest. 

“No one is here to quiet you, least not this Black woman,” Pressley told the protesters. “The senator is here to talk about the contributions fighters like you have made to history.”